BY-LAWS OF DELTA THETA SIGMA FRATERNITY
THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY, COLUMBUS, OHIO
(Revised; 1963, 1967, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1986, 1991, 1994, 2009)
Article I
Meetings
Section I: The regular meetings of this fraternity shall be held on every Monday evening of each week at 7:00 pm during the regular University school year. There shall be no meeting during the week of final examinations. On a University Holiday that falls on a Monday, meetings shall be Tuesday. The fire alarm shall be tested at the time of meeting, as a way of calling everyone attention that meeting will begin.
Section II: Special meetings may be called by the President or in his absence by the Vice - President when deemed necessary for the good of the Fraternity.
Section III: The order of business of each regular meeting shall be as follows:
1. Call to order
2. Prayer
3. Announcements
4. Officer Reports
5. Committee Reports
a) Standing Committees
b) Special Committees
6. Roll Call
7. Reading of Minutes
8. Old Business
9. New Business
10. Nomination & Discussion of new men
11. Criticism & Praise
12. Closing Ode
Clause I: The business meetings shall be conducted according to Robert’s Rules of Order.
Section IV: It shall be the duty of all active members to be present at all regular and special meetings of the fraternity.
Section V: If a simple majority of regular members at any regular or special meeting are present they shall be considered a quorum.
Article II
Elections
Section I: The elected officers of the fraternity shall be as follows:
1. President
2. Vice-President
3. Treasurer
4. Assistant Treasurer
5. Secretary
6. Rush Chairman
7. Steward
8. House Manager
9. Associate Member Trainer
10. Social Chairman
11. Editor
Clause I: Active members holding elective offices shall live in the chapter house during their office.
Clause II: An Assistant Treasurer shall receive top consideration to be elected Treasurer at the regular election of chapter offices. He shall assist the Treasurer with his duties.
Clause III: In the event of an officer taking up residence outside the chapter house, he shall serve notice of his intentions two weeks in advance of the time. A new officer shall be elected by the chapter to fill the vacancy.
Clause IV: In case of a vacancy made by the President the Vice-President shall
automatically succeed and a new Vice-President shall be elected.
Clause V: In case of a vacancy made by an officer participating in student teaching or an internship, or other University activity that requires a long period of leave, the executive committee shall appoint a member to serve temporarily in said office. In case of vacancy of the President office in above said matter, the Vice-President shall automatically take over the duties of the President temporarily and the executive committee shall appoint a temporary Vice-President. These temporary officers must be approved by the active chapter by a majority vote.
Section II: The election of officers shall be held the first Sunday of February during Winter quarter with the nominations presented to the active chapter one week prior to the elections. Applications for office will be made available at least three weeks prior to elections.
Clause I: The newly elected officers shall be installed and assume their duties immediately following founders day. Transition will conclude at the beginning of Spring Quarter.
Clause II: Active Present shall create a ballot from received applications of candidates. A ballot shall be given to active chapter members one week prior to elections.
Clause III: Nominations can be made from the floor, and only brothers in good standings are eligible.
Clause IV: Elections shall constitute plurality.
Section III: The active chapter shall elect an alumnus or honorary who is a member of the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty or Staff to serve as the advisor upon the approval of the Delta Theta Sigma Alumni Controlling Corporation.
Article III
Committees
Section I: The President shall appoint the following standing or committee
chairman: Scholarship and Career Awareness, Alumni & Public Relations, Initiation, Athletics, Standards of Excellence/Risk Management, Website, Constitution, Historian, Ag. Council, Conclave, Community Service and Philanthropy
Clause I: These committees shall make a report at each meeting.
Clause II: Upon being initiated into the fraternity, new members shall, in
addition to serving on any other committee be assigned by the
President to assist the editor in his duties of reporting, artwork,
layout, printing, and mailing of the Delta Theta Sigma ECHO during
the quarter in which they are initiated.
Section II: The President shall appoint special committees as necessary from time to time.
Section III: The chairman of each standing and special committee shall keep a record of all business transactions. This record, plus any recommendations for future chairman shall be typed or written in ink, in the form of a report to be turned into the custodian at the termination of that committee These reports shall be placed in the permanent fraternity files.
Section IV: The duties of these committees are as follows:
Clause I: The scholarship and career awareness committee shall encourage the attainment of academic achievements within the chapter. This shall be accomplished by organizing and supervising scholarship competition within the chapter and other activities related to the same. The scholarship chairman shall also be in charge of maintaining a suitable atmosphere for study within the chapter house.
Clause II: The Alumni and Public Relations Committee shall keep a record of
all alumni and maintain an up to date alumni contact list. They shall be responsible for the public relations activities. They shall also work with Alpha Controlling Corporation to maintain the alumni contact list.
Clause III: The initiation committee shall plan the initiation program for that particular quarter and shall be in charge of the initiation activities as they are being carried out.
Clause VI: The Athletic manager shall take charge of all fraternity athletics and athletic equipment.
Clause V: Standards of Excellence/Risk Management Chair shall work with the executive committee to following all IFC rules towards Standards of Excellence.
Clause VI: Website shall maintain the website in a timely manner.
Clause VII: Constitution Committee shall review the Constitution recommend changes and help unsure that bylaws are followed by members at all times.
Clause VIII: Historian shall take pictures at events, give them to the editor and webmaster to use. He shall also work to make a yearly scrapbook and yearly document binder. The document binder shall contain meeting minutes, The Echo, email updates, website pages, and other documents to record the history of the fraternity.
Clause IX: Ag. Council member shall attend Ag. Council meetings to represent the group and report back to the chapter.
Clause X: Conclave chairman is responsible for all communications with the Conclave host and the active chapter. He is also responsible for organizing travel, hotel, and gift for the host chapter. In the year of Conclave at the Alpha Chapter he shall work with the National DTS Board, Alpha Controlling, and the active chapter to plan Conclave.
Clause XI: Community Service chairman shall work to organize community service events as a chapter. He shall also provide information to the entire chapter about community service events around campus. He will also log a record of all community service and have that record for Conclave and IFC.
Clause XII: Philanthropy shall be responsible for the chapter involvement in other organizations events. They will also work to plan the chapter’s own philanthropy event.
Article IV
Rushing
Section I: A student shall: be entertained on two occasions before he may be extended a bid for membership. He shall be proposed and discussed at the first meeting after his second visit, at which time he may be extended a bid, held for further discussion or may be rejected for membership. Number of visits does not include Monday evening meals.
Section II: A rushee must have a grade point average of 2.50 or better to be considered eligible for pledging.
Section III: Sections I and II must comply with Interfraternity Council.
Section IV: On voting of bids to rushees, the number of “no” votes eliminating them from becoming a member of the pledge class will be the same as in Article V, Section II except that no secret balloting is required.
Section V: Delta Theta Sigma shall not discriminate against any prospective member on the basis of race, color, age, or religion.
Article V
Initiation
Section I: Eligibility for membership is subject to Article IV of the Constitution.
Clause I: New rules of the Interfraternity system shall automatically go into effect.
Clause II: A candidate must have attended all associate member events, unless excused by the chapter President or New Member Trainer to be eligible for initiation. Study tables and meeting times shall be set in agreement with said parties.
Section II: Candidates for membership must be nominated at least one meeting
previous to being voted upon. There shall be two votes by secret ballot. The number of votes to eliminate a candidate shall be as follows:
0 to 25 active members 2 no votes
26 to 50 active members 3 no votes
51 to 75 active members 4 no votes
76 or more active members 5 no votes
Only the members that are attending the first meeting shall determine the “no” vote. A new vote shall then be held and one vote over the minimum number of “no” votes shall be required to eliminate a candidate. If the member dropping the “no” vote does not give his reasons when asked, the candidate automatically is accepted. In case of a minimum “no” vote and the reasons are not asked for, the candidate is automatically rejected.
Clause I: The first vote shall determine if the candidate is worthy of initiation.
Clause II: All eligible candidates must be voted on before any ballots are opened or tabulated
Clause Ill: The second vote shall determine (excluding those candidates receiving a Positive vote in Clause I) those candidates that shall remain in the pledge class.
Article VI
Finances
Section I: A budget for the college year shall be formulated by the Treasurer and finance committee.
Section II: The books of the Treasurer shall be audited each month by the Treasurer and Assistant Treasurer.
Section III: The chapter fees may be changed by the Executive Committee whenever such changes become necessary subject to approval of the active chapter.
Section IV: House bills are to be paid by the first Friday of the quarter. After this deadline, an interest fee shall be compounded weekly at the rate of 5% of the entire bill.
Section V: The following salaries shall be received by these elected officers:
Clause I: President shall receive $500/quarter during the school year while in office.
Clause II: Treasurer shall receive $500/quarter during the school year while in office.
Clause III: The steward shall receive $50/quarter during the school year while in office.
Clause IV: The House Manger shall receive $150/quarter during the school year while in office.
Section VI: The initiation fee shall be $160.00 (one hundred sixty) dollars.
The fee shall be dispersed as follows:
a) fifteen dollars to the local chapter for the recognition pins.
b) seventy-five dollars goes to the local Alumni Organization for the
lifetime membership in the fraternity and mortgage payment.
c) The payment must be in one payment once the pledge class goes through
d) All remaining money covers expenses while pledging.
Article VII
Awards
Section I: Presidents Gavel- A gavel plaque shall be awarded to the retiring President at the end of his term of office. A man shall receive this award only once.
Section II: Outstanding Pledge Award - An outstanding Pledge ring donated during the 1978 Founders Day by the basketball team of 1974 at one time presented to the outstanding pledge award winner. This award shall be determined by the members of the active chapter for the person whom they feel has been most outstanding for the annual period between Founder’s Day. The associate member must have been initiated prior to receiving the award. This award shall be presented at Founder’s Day and shall be a plaque for the winner and his name be added to the perpetual plaque in honor of the award at the chapter house.
Selection shall be by popular vote at a regular active meeting and will be based on the following criteria:
1. Scholarship
2. Leadership
3. Work in activities outside the fraternity
4. Contribution to the fraternity and or pledge class
5. Character and Personality
Section III: Outstanding Brother Award - This award is sponsored by the National Chapter of Delta Theta Sigma. The selection shall be by the active chapter. The selection shall be based upon the following criteria:
1) Service to the fraternity
2) Work in activities Outside the fraternity
3) Satisfactory grades
Clause I: Candidates for this award shall be nominated one week prior to the selection of the Outstanding Brother Award.
Clause II: Voting shall be done by secret ballot. The ballots shall be collected and sealed in an envelope which will be presented to a member of the Alumni Board.
Clause III: The award shall be presented at Founder’s Day.
Section III: Blue and Gold Award- This award is given to alumni for outstanding service, contributions and/or commitment to the active chapter. The selection shall be by the active chapter.
Clause I: Candidates for this award be nominated prior to selection.
Clause II: A minimum of one winner and no more than two shall be awarded annually.
Clause III: This award shall be presented at Founder’s Day and shall be a plaque for the winner(s) and his name be added to the perpetual plaque in honor of the award at the chapter house.
Article VIII
Special Rules
Section I: Under no circumstances shall a woman be brought into the chapter house for immoral purposes as determined by the active chapter.
Section II: Fines:
Clause I: Any active member shall be penalized by the Executive Committee for being absent from a regularly scheduled meeting unless excused by the President, Vice-President, Treasurer or Secretary for University activities or other legitimate reasons. The fine shall consist of the following:
First offense: Verbal and written warning
Second offense: Twenty-five dollars in general fund
Subsequent offenses: Suspension of membership for remainder of quarter
Clause II: Any active member absent from final or formal initiation shall be fined ($50.00) fifty dollars unless excused by the President.
Clause III: All active members shall be fined ($50.00) fifty dollars for missing elections unless excused by the President.
Clause IV All members not wearing suitable apparel as designated by the President to a meal and subsequent meeting will be assessed a ($10.00) ten dollar fine. Suitable dress is as follows: